Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Constellations: Southern sky CE5 Constellations: Southern sky CE5 Constellations: Southern sky constellation, in common usage, group of stars that appear to form a configuration in the...

(Encyclopedia) Annan, Kofi Atta kōˈfē äˈtä ănˈən [key] 1938–2018, Ghanaian diplomat, the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations (1997–2006) and the first person to hold that office who came fro...

(Encyclopedia) Anselm, Saint ănˈsĕlm [key], 1033?–1109, prelate in Normandy and England, archbishop of Canterbury, Doctor of the Church (1720), b. Aosta, Piedmont. After a carefree youth of travel and schooling...

(Encyclopedia) Korean War, conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces in Korea from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953. At the end of World War II, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into Soviet (North Kor...

(Encyclopedia) Villa, Francisco fränsēsˈkō vēˈyä [key], c.1877–1923, Mexican revolutionary, nicknamed Pancho Villa. His real name was Doroteo Arango. When Villa came of age, he declared his freedom from the...

(Encyclopedia) road, strip of land used for transportation. The history of roads has been related to the centralizing of populations in powerful cities, which the roads have served for military purposes and for trad...

(Encyclopedia) Saladin sălˈədĭn [key], Arabic Salah ad-Din, 1137?–1193, Muslim warrior and Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, the great opponent of the Crusaders, b. Mesopotamia, of Kurdish descent. He lived for 10 year...

(Encyclopedia) Sevastopol sĭvăsˈtəpōlˌ [key], formerly spelled Sebastopol, city (1989 pop. 355,000), on the Crimean peninsula and the Bay of Sevastopol, an inlet of the Black Sea. From 1954 part of Ukraine (th...

(Encyclopedia) Hudson's Bay Company, corporation chartered (1670) by Charles II of England for the purpose of trade and settlement in the Hudson Bay region of North America and for exploration toward the discovery o...

(Encyclopedia) Nile, longest river in the world, c.4,160 mi (6,695 km) long from its remotest headstream, the Luvironza River in Burundi, central Africa, to its delta on the Mediterranean Sea, NE Egypt. The Nile flo...